interview?
I: Can you tell us something about your personal experience in the area of “art and environment”?
L: I think I should talk a little about how I began to create. The environment in which I started to create had similar or subtle relationship with this title “art and environment”.
I began to create about 20 years ago. I was living on a mountain. I lived there for half a year.
During this half year, I didn’t want to leave. During this period, autumn, winter and then spring passed. I saw leaves turn yellow and fall to the ground. In winter, there was snow on the mountain, after that the blossom of Azalea flowers. I felt so much and had profound feelings there.
That time I think was during the era when modern art was quite popular in Taiwan. About 1983-84, I used quite a lot of acrylic, and a combination of various other materials using the technique of collage.
For this project, I made a similar art piece at the top of the Farm [KFBG]. The idea of that has some relationship with that work I did 20 years ago.
It is very obvious that I like nature. I choose to work in the natural environment and then many ideas come out from it. But I live in a city. I think when people move from a metropolitan environment to a natural environment, a dialogue forms in people’s behaviour. There isn’t any contradiction between the two environments. A lot of ideas are produced.
There should be a relationship between the artist and the type of creation that he produces. If an artist likes nature, I think he will concern himself with nature. I belong to the group of people that like nature, so my artwork must be related to nature.
I concern myself with changes in the natural environment, the interaction with nature and the
outcome of this interaction. Of course, there are many positive and negative sides. You find a method to express your feelings. Or choose some materials to explain a problem. The project at the Farm I think has the intention of inquisitiveness, pursuing and exploring.
Just as with all
creative actions, a new art piece is very charming and stimulating for an
artist. So, this exhibition has a very significant explanatory function
.
At the beginning of this project, there were some problems. But for me, and for the Farm, they were charming problems.
I: What are your personal feelings about the art programme of the past 3 months?
L: The art programme at the Farm during the past 3 months. From the beginning to the end. I think I can use an analogy to describe it. That is, the environment changes a lot. Just like the weather changes in the four seasons. Just like dawn and dusk in one day. Everyday there are different changes.
The “Art & Environment” project took place at such a beautiful place [KFBG]. During the process, we tried to discover the Farm’s specific “way”. It was an interesting and charming exploration. I think after this programme we should have a clearer and more distinct outline [of the concept of Art and Environment]. This programme may help us discover the method and the path ahead.
[The interview was interrupted by the noise made by a helicopter]
The sound of a helicopter, the sound of a car, and also the sound of a bird. A butterfly flies past. A Black Eagle is flying…I think this probably sums up Hong Kong.
Before I came, the impression of Hong Kong in my mind was of a large metropolis. But when I came, it was totally different. I think, because this place is relatively small but the population is not small, it produces an overlap. And within this project this overlap has undergone a special change.
An artist comes to the Farm to create. For him, this special change and overlap is a new creative situation, provokes new thinking.
From the Farm’s point of view, it is a new concept and thinking that is different from any other place in the world.
I: In this project, how did you begin to develop a relationship with the surrounding environment?
L: How did I begin to have a relationship with the environment? I think, it is the same as ordinary life.
In the morning, you go out of your home. You walk through some places you like. You may pass fields, mountains. If you like cities, crowded areas, you might pass roads, supermarkets, shopping malls…
So coming to this spot, I would pass ladders, bridges, lotus, running water….Now there is just a little water left. But there was a lot of water before. And there are butterflies, flowers…In winter, leaves fall and the floor is covered with withered leaves.
Inside the Farm, I walked in and out, up and down. I enjoyed the process of walking. When I was walking, I would think a lot. To scrutinize, to observe, to reflect. Then artwork comes out very naturally when we don’t chase it deliberately. Because it exists in daily life already.
So, when you go into the environment, you just need to let things unfold, and also adopt a happy attitude towards it, not be too eager to get something out, art will come of its own accord.
I: This is the last question. In this project, you have met people of different age groups and have had some cooperation with them. Could you tell us your personal feeling about HK artists?
L: My feeling about HK artists? My feeling is not necessarily about HK artists, but also people living in this place.
I think my feeling also concerns the people coming from the two different regions [Hong Kong and Taiwan], backgrounds, cultural backgrounds. As I say, regarding the geographical background and cultural background, everyone understands the historical origin or source of both Hong Kong and Taiwan.
There is such a push and pull with the natural environment. Because in an over-urbanized region, I think there must be a push and pull with the natural environment.
Therefore, when an artist comes into the natural environment, I think he would have a feeling of “unfamiliarity”. If he stays in a “closed” creative situation, he may not be able to find a focus or point. If he’s got this problem, he might be swallowed by the environment. Or his artwork may not have any connection with the environment, or attain the ideal or target of expectation.
So during the process of creating an art piece or thinking, you must consider the inherent character of the natural environment before you start. You can try to find some familiar “words” inside yourself to describe it. If you make such preparations, or have that intention or basic attitude, when you enter into the natural environment, there should be no problem. So this is something surrounding HK artists that I observed.
Of course I am not saying that it is a general thing with HK artists because I didn’t meet other artists. It is just what I saw during this project.
林鴻文先生為台灣的著名環境藝術家，從事藝術創作已有二十年，歷年參加過多項大型國際藝術計劃，如二○○三年在美國佛蒙特舉行的「蒙特藝術村進駐創作」及二○○二年在加拿大魁北克大學舉行的「原型探求創作計劃」等。
二十年前，林鴻文開始踏上漫長的創作道路時，他在一座山中住了半年，那時他只想留在山中，不想出去。在這半年裡面，他看到秋天的落葉，冬天的雪，然後是春天杜鵑花的開放…，自然景物的變化令他有很深的感受，在山川草木晨昏四季之薰陶下，其創作遂融進了很多對大自然的體會、想像與思考，往後他亦不斷從事有關「環境」題材的藝術創作。明顯地，他很喜歡大自然，也選擇了在自然環境中工作。
去年，林鴻文獲邀蒞臨嘉道理農場暨植物園，擔任「環境與藝術」計劃的駐場藝術家，主持工作坊，帶領一眾參加者探討環境與藝術的微妙關係。今天，為期三個月（2003年9月至12月）的工作坊剛剛完成，回想整個過程，林鴻文坦言十分享受，樂在其中，並與我們分享了一些個人的看法和體會。
首先，此計劃很有一種探討性、探求性的獨特意義，計劃要開闢的領域、解答的問題和進行的環境，無論是對每位藝術家或對農場來說，都是十分迷人的一回事情！過程中，每位參加者都很用心去摸索、去發現。這個計劃應能讓我們對如何連繫環境與藝術，找到較為清晰明確的輪廓、方法及接下來的發展路線。所以，現在這個《Dream Garden》展覽，實有一種重要的闡釋性意義。
來香港之前，林鴻文對香港的印象只是一個大都會，但這次來到嘉道理農場後，便完全改觀，看到這裡雖然地小人多，但也有充滿自然氣息的一面，所以裡面會產生一種「重疊」，當藝術家來到這裡，他即進入一個新的創作情境，經歷一些微妙的變化，這是一種源自城市與自然的對話、互動、磨合的過程，但是兩者之間其實沒有矛盾，很多意念會從中產生出來。
此外，當要面對一個新的環境，或只是平日生活中自己熟悉的週遭環境，其實只需抱持一顆平常心便可以。就像他在這幾個月內，於農場走進走出、走上走下，感到很享受，在走路的過程中，會去觀察、思考、反省，創作意念便自然形成。我們只需以歡喜的態度、平常心去面對環境，不用強求、造作，作品就會出來，因為藝術本來就在日常生活裡面。
而藝術家從城市走進大自然時，他必然會有某程度的陌生感，他需要在心理上準備一種面對新環境的基調、企圖，離開封閉的狀態，否則便會被環境吞噬掉，找不到一個重心、焦點，作品與環境產生不了意義。這也是他在計劃中觀察到部分香港藝術家表現出的情況。